Body Area Networks: Driving mHealth Growth

By Susan Simmons and Ted Chan
 
Body area networks (BANs) are small wearable or implanted sensors that monitor body vital signals or movements and then transmit the resulting data wirelessly to external devices such as smartphones, diagnostic systems, and medical data servers. These BANs will be major growth drivers in mHealth, as they will enable new functionalities that will significantly expand the overall ecosystem. This paper outlines some of the key ongoing innovation efforts and use cases, and how BANs will impact the health care system as a whole.
 
Body Area Networks: Accelerating the mHealth Growth Opportunity
 
The increasing sophistication of Body Area Networks (BANs) will drive the mHealth growth opportunity over the next five to ten years. While significant commercialization is still several years away given the nascence of FDA trials and approvals, the opportunities are large and have the potential to be game changing. BANs can drive cost-savings, improved efficiency, and increased sales of prescription drugs. Furthermore, the amount of data that BANs will generate provides a significant opportunity for network operators and IT infrastructure players to transport and store that information.
 
What Are Body Area Networks (BANs)?
 
Body area networks are wearable or implanted sensors that monitor body vital signs or movements and transmit the resulting data wirelessly to external devices such as smartphones, diagnostic systems, and medical data servers. Based on sensor information or directed commands, BANs can also control medical devices and medication dosages. BANs allow for new metrics, enhanced precision, and increased control in health care. For instance, the CardioMEMS implantable sensor can detect slight changes in pressure within an aortic aneurysm sac, allowing physician’s to monitor a patient’s cardiac health more closely and consistently than ever before. This type of detection, which cannot be performed outside the body, allows for life-saving intervention.
 
Sample Body Area Network applications that illustrate the potential range of innovations include:

• Vital signs monitoring
• Proactive cardiovascular monitoring
• Organ implantation monitoring
• Military
• Dosage control
• Fall detection

Key Implications for the mHealth Opportunity
 
These BAN-based mHealth solutions have the potential to create cost savings for provider health systems and insurance companies across the ecosystem.

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